


never don't mind about a thing

by erysimumchen (jirml)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Chenny Benny, Love at First Sight, M/M, i respect theatre but know nothing about it, love at first light, theatre blasphemy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 00:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19414780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jirml/pseuds/erysimumchen
Summary: Chanyeol signed up for Tech Theatre for some experience, not for some singing prodigy with a body and face of a god.





	never don't mind about a thing

**Author's Note:**

> This was disappointing. I’m so sorry to the prompter if it’s not that good, but enjoy anyway 🙏🏻
> 
> Some theatre jargon:
> 
> Main House — The part of the theatre where the audience sits  
> Profile (Spotlight) — Hard beam of light meant to focus  
> Bible — Guide/Script w/ cues  
> Dry Tech — Rehearsals for the Tech Crew w/o any actors/dancers  
> Cue-to-Cue/Q2Q — Rehearsals where they only go through the cues and skip any dialogue in between  
> Fresnel — Soft beam of light to wash light over the stage  
> Follow (Spot) — A dedicated beam of light that follows the actor  
> Set — Structures/Furnitures to paint a scenery/location  
> God Mic — Director’s mic to address everyone  
> Matinee — Afternoon show  
> Evening — Evening show  
> Understudy — Reserve/Stand-In Actor  
> Curtain Call — Final bow of the actors/actresses where they’re introduced to be recognised by the audience 
> 
>   
> No prior knowledge needed about ‘In The Heights’ but it’d be easier to imagine the scenes addressed in the fic! You can watch the musical on youtube but it’s not the Korean production (https://youtu.be/fMJDJkF5zPk)  
> 
> 
> You can watch the Korean production’s rehearsal but it’s Sunggyu as Benny and not Jongdae TT but still I really liked Benny’s entrance in the Korean production better hehe (https://youtu.be/jcsujKwPA-w @4:25)

The double doors of the theatre swing open and Chanyeol steps in slowly, his gaze far above his footing. 

The theatre is lit up with a range of different brightness and sizes, the light from the machines all around spilling colours into the dim room.

Chanyeol can’t control his wonder as his eyes roam from one end of a spotlight to another. He follows the trail of the light to its source–a light machine rooted at the side of the ceiling along with other machines nestled next to it in a perfect row.

His head is craning up almost painfully to take it all in and to his further right he sees a seemingly suspending box in the air at the second level.

_ The control room. _

His mouth hung open in awe.

“Chanyeol!” A voice calls out to him.

Chanyeol snaps his mouth shut and turns towards the voice and grins at his senior–the reason he is here in the first place.

“Glad you could make it,” the guy starts, coming to a stop in front of him.

“It’s a pleasure to be here, Ryeowook hyung!” He bows excitedly, “Plus, it’d be a good experience for me. It’d really help me with Tech Theatre next year.”

Ryeowook laughs at his energy, “I don’t know if it’ll really help since you’ll just be manning one light, but you’d definitely get something from seeing how exactly things are run behind the scenes.”

He starts walking and gestures for Chanyeol to follow him.

“And did you say Tech Theatre? Is that even a compulsory subject for you next year?” He asks as he aptly weaves through the theatre and the crew working around, some carrying heavy equipment and props.

Chanyeol follows his steps closely to make sure he doesn’t disrupt anyone as he explains, “Oh, I’m planning to take up Tech Theatre next year as an extra module! I need a good grade though, so I’m working extra hard right now.”

They exit the  main house through a side door that’s labelled ‘STAFF ONLY’ and into the narrow hallway that leads to the backstage. There are mini staircases that lead up to a small platform and they take one up.

His senior stops right as he steps foot onto the small platform big enough to comfortably fit only one so Chanyeol stops right behind, two steps down. Even still, he barely remains eye level with his hyung.

“Chanyeol, you’re working too hard, it’s only been like 2 months into the acad year. I know you’re excited but take a chill once in a while, okay?”

Chanyeol beams at the advice and answers with a ‘sure’, and they get down to business.

“So here’s your station. You’ll be manning the  Profile Spotlight… or in Tech Theatre terms,  _ ‘Ellipsoidal’ _ .” Chanyeol smiles at the information tip.

“Okay. What do I have to do then?” Chanyeol looks curiously at the  _ simple _ machine. It boasts a long cylindrical shape with handles and screw holes around it. Chanyeol can’t see the lenses from his spot but he can definitely see the powerful beam of light coming from it.

“Okay. Simple. Here’s the cue sheet for the tech crew. It includes instructions of which light and whose position have to shine at which actor and when.” Chanyeol nods along as he receives the stack of paper in his hands.

“You have quite a lot of the actors and actresses to aim at. Just follow the sheet. If it’s your position, then it’ll be marked with ‘HRL2P1’,” he takes out a laminated paper.

“This is a map of the stage. Upstage, Downstage, Apron. Stage Right is your left, Stage Left is your right,” he explains with the help of the diagram.

He proceeds to explain how and when to turn it on/off, and to point towards the actor/actress before it’s turned on and the timing and etc. etc., and Chanyeol tries to take it all in.

The bewilderment must be reflected on his face as Ryeowook laughs at him.

“Don’t worry, okay. I really did give you one of the most simplest positions. Just follow the  bible , know when you have to aim and be there before that. And then just turn it on when you see or hear the cue. It could be an actor’s action or speech, so watch out for it.”

Chanyeol doesn’t seem very certain but nods anyway, which garners him a pat on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry okay. There’ll be a  Dry Tech later on. We’ll test out the system and you can practice more during  Cue-to-Cue with the actual cast. I’ll leave you here to familiarise with the script and I’ll announce when rehearsals start, which is in about... 15 minutes.”

Chanyeol stiffens at the short period he has before nodding hesitantly to his hyung who leaves hurriedly. He must have a lot on his shoulders being the Lighting Technician in charge.

Chanyeol met Ryeowook during a live play session his school organises and found out he’s on his fourth year of his graduate studies and doing his internship at the University’s theatre, which is known for not only holding events and performances by the school, but also outside vendors.

He found out they were short on staff for this school musical–one of theirs got seriously injured and couldn’t get a replacement at the last minute because everyone already had work allocations. There had only been about 9 days left to the actual performance and Ryeowook was desperately looking for a replacement.

Of course Chanyeol had to volunteer.

_ Free experience, yeah! _

But now, Chanyeol’s kinda nervous at exactly how much is on the line.

So he does what he can and reads the script. There’s a lot of unfamiliar terminology but he ignores them for those that his hyung asked him to watch out for.

He’s almost finishing skimming on Act II for his parts when there’s a sudden loud boom and the area around him blacks out as his light machine shuts off.

“Blackout! Places people.” Someone shouts from down below. There’s two taps on the steel staircase from below and he looks down to see Ryeowook.

“Dry Tech! Try following the cue sheet okay. I’ll be down here so call if you need me. Fighting!” He encourages before he looks down at his clipboard and talks to his comms.

Chanyeol feels the panic rise in the form of bile and he tampers it down as he flips his bible back to the first page. He hears another set of calls and assumes it to be a cue.

It does turn out to be the starting cue and so Chanyeol follows along religiously.

“So enter Usnavi from the stoop, Usnavi Follow on Off Right Centre, okay and follow along as he walks to Centre. Usnavi reaches Off Left Centre and... Profile.”

Chanyeol panics when he hears the director calling out for Profile and thinks he had missed his turn. He gets confused when he sees another beam of light on the stage anyway and definitely not coming from his light machine.

He scans the guide sheet in his hands and realises; of course he’s not the only Profile Spotlight. How dumb of him.

He laughs it off aside and anticipates his soon coming turn instead.

Chanyeol points the machine towards Right Centre as instructed on the sheet, and just as the director shouts, “Enter Piragua Guy, and... Profile.”

He flicks a switch and not even a second after that, a beam of light swells up on the area, a great sense of satisfaction swelling up in Chanyeol as well.

The light doesn’t have to stay on for that long, so when the director moves on, Chanyeol flicks the light switch off as stated on the guide.

The rest of the rehearsal passes similarly with Chanyeol trying his best to follow the script and not mess things up. He makes a few mistakes here and there, like leaving it on for a tad bit too long, or missing the exact cue, but other than that, he makes it through the dry run unscathed.

“That was stressful,” Chanyeol sighs out as the director calls the end of the rehearsal and for a break. A chuckle accompanies his comment and he sees Ryeowook standing just a few steps below.

“Right? But you’ll get used to it. That wasn’t bad for your first try! I’m honestly impressed.”

Chanyeol grins at the compliment and ruffles his hair bashfully, “Heh, I try.”

“Well, keep it up. The actors and actresses will be arriving soon, and then we’ll get to  Q2Q . Just keep familiarising yourself with the cues for now!”

Chanyeol nods obediently and says a quick thanks when Ryeowook passes him a water bottle, then leaves him again.

He sits down on the small pad sticking out from the railing and reads through the script again. Chanyeol attempts to memorise all his cues, a burning fire lighting up another competitive streak within him.

The chatter in the theatre amplifies as a throng of people enter the stage, but Chanyeol doesn’t acknowledge them.

He vaguely hears the words ‘actors’ and ‘introduction’ from the director, and deems them important enough to listen to.

He’s closing the script and preparing to stand when two hands suddenly grab onto him energetically.

“Chanyeol hyung!”

Chanyeol turns around with wide eyes and holds onto the railing bar to balance himself, “Jongin. Oh my gosh, seriously. You scared the crap out of me.”

Jongin gives him a cheeky smirk, careless of Chanyeol’s worries.

Chanyeol glares at him half-heartedly, “What are you even doing here?”

Jongin is an undergraduate Chanyeol met when the younger asked him to arrange a track for one of his dance recitals. The kid looks like a lazy pretty boy, but when it comes to dance, he’s like a different person.

He’s a rascal but he has a passion that Chanyeol can identify with.

“I volunteered as a backup dancer!”

_ See. _

“I heard from Wook hyung that you were here too, so, hi.” He snickers at Chanyeol’s exasperated face.

Chanyeol’s about to retort when he gets interrupted by the director, “OK! Now that introduction’s out of the way, we’ll start rehearsals in a few.”

Alarm bells ring in Chanyeol’s head, “Shit. I didn’t see the actors and actresses’ faces.”

He shakes off Jongin’s arm around him and pushes himself against the railing to try and get a lasting glance.

“Chill, just remember the main characters if I were you,” Jongin joins him and takes a look at the remaining members on the stage, “Ah, see. That there is Dongwoo hyung as Usnavi. Main character obviously...”

Jongin continues listing off any of the characters he sees that are still on stage and it reassures Chanyeol, if only by a little bit.

“And there’s still Vanessa, Sonny, and Benny, but they’re not on stage right now. But you’ll know who is who since they don’t share that much scenes together. And that’s it!” Jongin pats him on the back encouragingly.

“Okay, wow, thanks Jongin. Wouldn’t have expected you to know any of this. Thought you’d only know about dancing.”

“Hey–”

“Okay, all actors and dancers on stage now! We’re starting rehearsals!”

“Oh, shit. That’s me. Bye hyung, see you later!” Jongin waves a rushed goodbye as he sprints down the stairs, Chanyeol’s reprimands about safety going in through one ear and out in another.

Chanyeol clicks his tongue and forgets him to focus on his own work.

It doesn’t take long for the rehearsal to start. Cue-to-cue means Chanyeol really has to be sharp here and watch out for his.

So far so good, everything’s going smoothly. More so than the previous dry run with the actual characters standing on stage. They give Chanyeol a better idea on where precisely to point at.

“Okay, now enter Piragua Guy on Usnavi’s cue.”

_ Ooh, ooh _ , Chanyeol’s turn was coming.

Usnavi sings, “Hey y’all, good morning~”

And that was his cue, and just as he flicks the machine on, the lights hit Piragua Guy and he sings his parts, “... Senõr Usnavi!”

And that was his next cue to shut off the lights.

The next cue was the Profile from the other side on Abuela, and they’re moving on to the next cue which is for the dance sequence. Colourful bright lights fill the stage. Then the director calls for the next cue, where Chanyeol comes in again.

He joins the other Profile and the Fresnel in pointing at Usnavi and his bodega as the Rosarios come in.

It’s really all so fast-paced. His cue to turn off the lights come, and so he does. There’s another dance number and so Chanyeol waits out another display of flashy, colourful lights.

And then after this is Benny.

“And now here I am~!”

Chanyeol flicks the switch on the exact moment his cue comes and of course, a bright ray of light shines down onto the stage.

_ Holy shit. _

“Benny!” Everyone on stage shouts and follows with raucous laughter. Even the usually strict director is rolling his eyes fondly with a small smile at the antics of the team.

Whoever this Benny is, he’s changing the world with his presence.

He’s changing Chanyeol’s world. Because  _ holy shit he’s fucking hot _ .

“Okay, okay. Yes, Benny’s here. Very funny, let’s move on to the next cue. Profile lights out on... cue!”

“Or you ain’t got no skills!” Benny belts out.

And then everyone stares at Benny for a while, not really digesting the situation immediately.

Benny looks the most lost; wondering why there’s still a light on him when he’s said his cue. Chanyeol sighs out dreamily.

_ Aww, oh my gosh, he’s so cute when he’s confused. _

However, after a long second where nothing has changed and everyone is just confusedly standing around in their positions, the director finally takes action–quite aggressively.

“Hello, what the heck. Left profile, ‘ _ you ain’t got no skills _ ’!”

_ Ugh, why is the director so noisy? Can’t he show some resp–Oh my gosh, oh my gosh _ , he just made eye contact with Benny.

Chanyeol was just about to start fanning his face excitedly when he feels the steel platform reverberate with quick taps.

“Chanyeol! Shut it off!” Ryeowook fiercely whispers at him.

Chanyeol takes one puzzled, adoring glance at Benny then back at Ryeowook before realising he still has a job to do.

“Oh shit!”

He scrambles for the switch and finally the spotlight on Benny is gone.

The director shrieks angrily before moving along to the next cue, which is again: another dance number. And Chanyeol’s next cue is not until later on. Ryeowook must knowbthis because he’s sharply rushing up the stairs to Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol, what happened? Are you okay?”

Chanyeol waves his hands around frantically to reassure Ryeowook, “Yes, hyung! Totally fine… Umm, jus–just distracted.”

Ryeowook gives him a doubtful look as if to ask  _ ‘Distracted by what?’ _

_ ‘By Benny, that’s what.’ _ Chanyeol would love to answer.

Or maybe Ryeowook’s just giving him that look cause everyone who knows Chanyeol knows that hardly anything puts him off track. Especially when it comes to work.

“You sure?”

Chanyeol nods his head wildly.

Ryeowook looks like he would pry, but thankfully, he lets it go.

“Okay, just concentrate okay? Heechul’s not known for his patience.”

Ryeowook walks off but not without gracing Chanyeol another uncertain look.

When he’s gone, Chanyeol looks back to the stage. They’ve moved on from the dance number, now onto a solo song number. Then after this, there’ll be a dialogue scene. Then a song number… with  _ Benny _ .

_ But I don’t have a cue _ … Chanyeol sighs.

Anyway, after that is another dialogue scene, and then a song and mini dance number, which includes Chanyeol’s next cue. It seems so far away, but since they’re only doing cue-to-cue, Chanyeol knows it’ll come real fast.

He checks his script guide again one last time before focusing on the current happenings on stage.  _ It’s Benny. _

They’ve just finished the cue-to-cue in the dialogue scene which went by quickly since there’s only three cues.

Chanyeol watches as the director gestures around before calling for the next cue.

“This is Benny on the dispatch~”

The stage dims and a  Followspot shines on him.

Chanyeol sighs, smitten beyond hope. He has his torso bent forward as he rests his arms on the railing to prop his chin up. He admires the actor on stage languidly.

The smooth curve of those sharp cheekbones as Benny puts on a smug face. The curls of his lips accentuating his smirk.  _ Chanyeol is whipped. _

“Honk your horn if you want it!”

Car horns honk at the cue and they’re moving on. The light dims slightly to blue, and then a girl enters the small space of the dispatch office set to join Benny. That’s a cue and a light shines on her.

Suddenly, Benny’s confident posture shifts into a shy one. Chanyeol, in a fit of pique, stands up straight at the change.

“Okay, can we go to before the rap and the light changes. Benny’s cue.”

Benny and the girl shift their positions a bit, “Well, check the technique yo!”

Again, the light shifts around to blue and then Benny says his next cue and it simmers down to the neutral dimness.

The director shouts “Perfect!” and calls for the next cue.

It could totally be Chanyeol’s imagination, but the nasty director seems easily pleased in Benny’s presence.

Again, Benny and the actress on stage shift. And this time, to Chanyeol’s dismay, they gaze at each other demurely as Benny sings, “Stay here with me~”

Then the light dims to total darkness on them.

Chanyeol’s mouth hangs open in despair.

Then he remembers this is just a play.  _ It’s just a play, yeah. _ They’re acting.

The tender gaze on Benny’s face was  _ acting _ . 

Chanyeol shakes those unwanted thoughts away and returns to his proper position in front of the light machine. He has a cue coming.

But even when he tells himself so, he can’t help but let his eyes drift to Benny and the girl– _ Nina _ , Chanyeol finds out when he makes the effort to read the script more thoroughly. They still remain on stage right where the dispatch office is  set , while the current scene is now focused on stage left where Vanessa is shining.

_ Man, you can’t be losing focus like this because of a man, Park Chanyeol! Focus! _

“Vanessa!”

Chanyeol jumps up at the sudden screech and then the stage is flooded with a large wash of pale yellow.

Suddenly the director is laughing hysterically on his seat, “Perfect, perfect! Next.” The actors all position themselves accordingly and do their cues.

Chanyeol shakes his head in exasperation and focuses.

When his cue comes up, he flawlessly executes.

“The neighbourhood salon is where I am working for the moment~”

Lights on.

“Okay, walk a bit, Vanessa’s Follow and Profile follow… And cue.”

“Any day~”

And lights off.

Chanyeol pumps his fist by the side in celebration at the minor achievement of success.

The stage completely blacks out after that and Chanyeol refers to the script to see what’s happening next.

_ Return to the Dispatch at the Dispatch Booth. _

Which means back to Benny. Chanyeol sighs heavily at the ordeal he is sure to come.

“Okay, let’s just go ahead straight to the song. Kevin on stage alone and start your cues.”

Chanyeol is pleasantly surprised he doesn’t have to go through watching Benny on stage, but as Benny’s small yet lean figure walks off the stage while whispering to Nina’s actress, Chanyeol feels this dip of disappointment in the pit of his stomach.

He shakes it off.

From there on, unsurprisingly, things go smoothly again. Without Benny and his thin waist and his smooth hair and his sharp face and his everything there to distract him, Chanyeol does the job fine and dandy.

He positions the lights right before turning it on, then he waits for the next immediate cue to turn it off. And then repeat. He’s in the zone.

But later, he realises; it’s not the issue of switching it on and off that’s his problem–he won’t let a repeat of Benny’s first appearance happen again–but rather it was  _ who _ to point at.

He can’t decide which is worse.

“Okay, let’s move on to 96,000. We’ll test the music and dance later. This is complicated for the spotlights so we’ll do the cue-to-cue for lights and SFX only. Places!”

Everyone moves as per the director’s instructions and there he is; the star of the show. Or the star of the show in Chanyeol’s eyes.

Benny, Usnavi, and Sonny get on stage with Usnavi holding a newspaper. Sonny is beside him while Benny is standing sassily off their side.

The director calls for cue and Benny starts, “Don’t tell me no five hundred dollars.”

And the light dims low when he walks into position.

The director calls places for the next cue and then Sonny says, “96,000!”

That’s their cue. Chanyeol lights his machine on and a ray shines down on Abuela’s apartment door as she comes out.

“Ay alabanza~!” And Chanyeol switches the lights off.

Sonny runs off to Stage Left and repeats his cue, “96,000!”

Not Chanyeol’s cue but lights shine from the other machines.

Vanessa says something and then the lights are off again.

Then Sonny turns to the audience and belts out a long “96,000~!!”

The whole stage dims to full darkness as a lone spotlight shines on him and when he finishes the long note, Benny comes in.

“For real though~”

Immediately the spotlight on Sonny is turned off and a new one lands on Benny in simultation. It looked simple and exciting but the amount of coordination it takes to pull off that sequence right there is massive.

Chanyeol would marvel at how lucky he is to experience this backstage work first-hand, but for now his sole attention is on Benny.

“Nice! Nice, nice. Good job on that team. Let’s move on.”

Everyone rearranges themselves, including Chanyeol as he prepares for his next cue.

While doing so, he watches Benny absently, taking in the actor. He’s wearing a plain white tank top and grey sweatpants—both pieces of clothing hugging his body perfectly and accentuating the dips and curves.

Chanyeol is sure he’s drooling.

“Check one, two, three~”

Chanyeol stands quickly in attention at hearing his cue and fumbles quickly for the light switch and he breathes out a sigh of relief after turning it on.

Then there’s silence. The actors aren’t saying their next cues and the director is not calling anyone out.

Chanyeol peeks his head out from behind the machine to observe the situation on stage.

Everything looks normal. No one fell or anything. But everyone’s looking at Usnavi’s bodega, which was not part of the script.

_ Wait, hmm. That can’t be right. Did they forget their lines or something? _

He looks back down onto the stage and this time both Usnavi and Benny, who are in the centre of the spotlight, is staring up unsurely at the beam of light shining down on them.

“Who the heck is operating Left Profile?! Hello?! Left Profile?! Don’t make me go up there!”

_ Ah, shit. _

Chanyeol quickly moves the machine carefully to shine rightfully on the ladies at the salon.

“One more time. I swear, one more time you do this shit, Left Profile. I’ll be firing your ass myself!” 

Chanyeol takes a meek glance at the director below who’s sitting in the middle of the house with his god mic. The man’s turned around in his seat and has his foot threateningly on the cushioned headrest.

The man’s crazy.

* * *

_ And really fucking scary _ , Chanyeol decides 20 minutes later when he has repeated the same mistakes about the umpteenth time.

Chanyeol winces when the crazy director actually makes it out of his seat and is just being held back by his assistants.

He’s screaming bloody murder and Chanyeol is genuinely scared for his life.

After a while, his assistants manage to calm him down and convince him to take a break.

“You need it. And it’ll be good for the team.”

He goes along willingly enough.

Chanyeol slumps down onto the platform floor in relief.

“Chanyeol…”

He looks up reluctantly, already recognising Ryeowook’s voice and the scolding that’s to come.

Ryeowook heaves a heavy sigh and looks down with worry at Chanyeol’s pathetic form, “You seem to already know your mistakes and you don’t look like you’ll tell me what’s up. So I’m not going to bother.”

Then his stance turns rigid and firm, “But if this repeats any more times than accepted, then Chanyeol, I’m sorry but I’d have to pull you out, okay?.”

Chanyeol gapes at the declaration and Ryeowook leaves him there.

He sits up and rests his arm out on his knees as his head hangs low.

“Gahd, I really messed up.”

“Yeah, you did. Real bad.”

Chanyeol jumps at the sudden voice and looks up and glares at Jongin.  _ Again _ .

“Jongin what the heck man. Did I not tell you not to just appear like that?”

Jongin laughs at him and leans on the staircase handle.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Chanyeol sighs and drops his head again, “About what exactly?”

“About your obvious infatuation with Benny?”

Chanyeol whips his head up and cones face to face with Jongin’s unabashed, smug face.

“How–”

Jongin smirks, “Oh, so I was right?”

Chanyeol groans and ruffles his hair up in frustration. He always falls for this kid’s cheap tricks.

“Man, I can’t believe I’m right. I was just guessing.”

Chanyeol gives him the stink eye. The kid loves rubbing it in.

“I mean, it just doesn’t make sense for you to fuck up that bad? You and me. We’re perfectionists. We don’t do messing up.”

Chanyeol pouts at that. That is true. When it comes to their work, there’s just no such thing as less than perfect. It’s why Chanyeol is beating himself up over like this.

“It’s why I asked you, hyung. To help me with my performance last time.” Jongin offers Chanyeol a confident smile.

Then it turns condescending in a split second, “So I looked closely. And it’s somehow always Jo—Benny that’s caught in the headlights. From there it wasn’t too far off to warrant a guess.”

He shrugs with nonchalance a replica of what Sherlock would do when he says something with confidence of it being common sense when it’s not.

It annoys Chanyeol to the max.

“Okay, you need to leave if you’re just going to tease me about my crush.”

They freeze.

Chanyeol looks up at Jongin’s excited face with terror.

“No.”

Jongin scoffs, “Yes.”

“Ugh, leave!”

Jongin does as he asks but not without a boisterous laugh at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol groans and rolls his eyes.

He hears a commotion and looks down and sees Jongin joining a group of people walking down into the house. One of them is the crazy director.

Director Kim looks more calm than before and Chanyeol is a little bit relieved at that. A little cause he knows he can just fuck things up again and Director Kim will be coming for his ass.

And they haven’t even started on Act II.

They had previously stopped at…  _ Ah, yes _ … Benny and Nina’s duet. Chanyeol hadn’t been able to take it. Distracted and envious. He lost all pretense at concentration when he saw the love in Benny’s eyes.

_ Shit, maybe I really should just drop this. _ He thinks to himself when he sees Benny and Nina get on stage again from where they left off.

_ No. I took this on. I have to see this through. _

Benny lets out a deep, hiccuped chuckle that echoes throughout the theatre–his mic the only one turned on at the moment.

_ No matter how hard it is. _

Everyone else’s mic is turned on in a minute and the director once again calls for places.

“Everyone of you better do your fricking job properly. We’re 6 days down to Opening Night, everything should be fucking smooth as my legs when I bother to fucking shave.”

Oh, there goes his filter.

“Let’s start from the top of Scene 9.”

Chanyeol takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

He has two cues. One to turn on the light, another to turn it off. That simple.

Previously, he had shone it too far off right, accidentally excluding Nina. And then he forgot he had to turn it off and instead followed Benny along.

Which prompted the director’s breakdown.

This time, Chanyeol takes all the effort he can to not get sucked in into Benny’s black hole of charisma and executes his cues properly.

And with that, he’s done with Scene 9.

_ Thank goodness _ .

The scenes continue to progress and Chanyeol makes do by trying his best not to look at Benny. When he has a cue on Benny, he looks at him once then shifts his gaze away.

And then they get into the final scene of Act I and they do the dance number. Chanyeol has no more cues left for Act I so he just watches on. Jongin’s on stage too. 

They’re not really acting it out in full but Chanyeol gets the gist of it. And since he has no parts here, he stares at Benny for as long he’s on.

Benny has the perfect morose mood going on around him after his job termination at the Dispatch, and his implied ‘break up’ with Nina.

Chanyeol watches them fight with bitter satisfaction, but he practically bawls at the end of the final number of Act I when Benny and Nina kiss.

The director announces a break before they start Act II, and Chanyeol wishes to use it fully.

He goes down the stairs with the intention to go to the bathroom and maybe take a quick breath of fresh air.

God knows he’s going to need it. Especially when he decided to actually skim the full script.

The opening act of Act II itself is the literal morning after Benny and Nina’s night together.

He’s going to crash and burn.

He lets out a heavy sigh. He can’t count how many that has been for the day.

“Still hung up over Benny?”

Chanyeol really shouldn’t been surprised anymore.

“Gahd damn it, Jongin. Stop.” He says through gritted teeth. 

Jongin just laughs in his face.

“Cheer up, hyung. You did so much better this time round.” He pats Chanyeol on the back good-naturedly.

“He’s right, but could be better.”

Chanyeol turns towards the voice and finds Ryeowook, he grumbles, “Hyung, please. Not you too. Please don’t creep up on me like that.”

Jongin gives Ryeowook a thumbs-up which Ryeowook shakes his head at.

“Very funny, Jongin. You can do it, but less at dangerous places okay? Don’t think I don’t know.”

Jongin scratches his hair sheepishly and that’s as apologetic as they could get from the guy.

“Anyway, Chanyeol. Like I said, could be better. I think you made less mistakes on your first try? Are you nervous or something?”

Jongin snorts, “About Benny, yeah.”

Chanyeol turns wide eyes at Jongin and lets out a muffled scream.

“Benny?” Ryeowook asks, confused.

Jongin ignores the death glares, “Yeap. Chanyeol’s blinded by his beauty. Can’t focus on anything else, haha.”

He pats Chanyeol in the back ignoring the murderous vibe around him.

“Oh, no. Is that why? I see…”

“No. Hyung.”

“I could put you as Benny’s  Follow , that way you’d really only need to focus on him.”

Chanyeol gets alarmed at the suggestion, but feels a traitorous blooming of hope in him.

“Oh, but I’m sorry Chanyeol,” Ryeowook frowns at him apologetically, “But Follow Spots are more difficult than you think and just can’t be handled by newbies.”

Chanyeol deflates at that and tries not to make it obvious.

“Aww, that’s too sad, ain’t it, hyung? Better luck next time.”

Jongin gives him a teasing smile, still patting his back, and Chanyeol returns it with a sarcastic grin.

“It’s totally fine, hyung. Please don’t listen to Jongin.”

Ryeowook leaves them after a couple exchanges and Jongin laughs out loud openly once he’s left.

“Hyung, oh my gosh, that was so funny. Why didn’t you just take the chance man? You’d do such a great job following Benny since you already do anyway!”

Jongin laughs again at his own joke and Chanyeol rolls his eyes and leaves him for the bathroom. Jongin follows like his dog.

He continues to tease Chanyeol while Chanyeol chooses to ignore him. He follows Chanyeol even back to his station.

Chanyeol then proceeds to chase him away because he actually needs to revise his cues for Act II.

He reads the guide in peace and silence after Jongin has left. At this point, he’s aware of his cues. But because they’ve skipped like 90% dialogue, he doesn’t really have a seamless understanding of the plot.

So he carefully skims through the actual script and comes to a better understanding of the whole musical so far.

But really he’s just glad he doesn’t have to handle watching Benny and Nina make love eyes at each other that much.

Other than the horrible first scene of Act II and another scene later on where they hug, Chanyeol has confidence he can get through this.

“Okay, everybody. Get ready for Act II. Places!” The director calls out and so Chanyeol prepares himself for the tallest mountain he has to climb this act.

* * *

Very surprisingly, he gets through Act II alright with just a few jumbles here and there. But Director Kim hasn’t screamed at him more than twice, so Chanyeol would call that a success.

And as he thought, the first scene was a nightmare to get through. But Benny and Nina hadn’t even done much. Chanyeol imagines that full rehearsals is going to be the real ordeal, but he’ll cross that bridge when he gets there.

For now, he relishes in the success of his first day of rehearsals. 

Director Kim gives the whole team a debriefing from his seat. He gives out a few pointers here and there for the actors, techs, crew, and of course he throws very obvious shade at Chanyeol.

“That is all for today. Rest up and be prepared for tomorrow.”

He ends the debriefing there and all the different teams split up and gather for their own team debriefing.

Ryeowook calls Chanyeol for the Lighting Crew’s debriefing and he’s embarrassed facing all of them, knowing that they now know who is the newbie fuck up.

But surprisingly, no one holds it against him, and Chanyeol receives encouraging words and pats instead.

“Hey, we all started from somewhere, right?”

Chanyeol grins back at them.

And then when all is finally said and done. Chanyeol goes back to his station to get his things so he can ciao.

He’s walking calmly when he notices there’s a figure stepping on the middle of the staircase. It’s definitely too short to be Jongin, so Chanyeol wonders who could he be and what could he want.

_ Wait, he looks familiar. _

Then Chanyeol inspects the figure—white tank top, grey sweatpants, thin waist, strong shoulders.

_ Holy shit, it’s Benny. _

With a shriek, he quickly hides behind the thick curtains.

His noise alerts Benny and he turns around trying to spot the noise, but comes up short.

“Hello?”

Chanyeol cries in his head at hearing his voice so close and raw, instead of through a mic and speakers.

It’s as melodious as Chanyeol has heard, but soft and humble. This is not Benny he’s witnessing. This is his actor.

“Hmm, did I imagine that?”

Chanyeol coos at the cute way Benny tilts his head as he thinks out loud.

He’s sorry for hiding like this, but he just can’t face him right now. It’s going to be bad for his heart and his concentration. Not to mention, he doesn’t really know what to say or do.

_ Why is he here? Why is he at my station? Is he looking for me? Did he notice I’ve been messing up because of him? Oh my gosh, so many questions, not eno– _

“Jongdae?”

Both Chanyeol and Benny jump at the familiar voice. Chanyeol tries to peek as much as he can from his hiding spot without giving himself away.

“Wook hyung,” Benny–Jongdae–answers.

“What’re you doing here?”

Jongdae goes down the stairs as they both approach each other. They stand right in front of the staircase. A clear, perfect angled view for Chanyeol.

_ Jongdae _ .

“Hmm, I was looking for someone. The one operating this light?” He points unsurely at the platform above them.

“Jongin said something about the guy having a problem with me?” 

_ That fucking idiot. _

Jongdae scrunches his face as he tries to explain something even he himself doesn’t understand.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry about that, it’s his first day. He’s a replacement. But don’t worry about it, okay? You’re doing great, sweetie.”

Ryeowook gives Jongdae a few loving pats on his cheek which makes Jongdae giggle.

Chanyeol practically melts at the stark difference between stage Benny and this… Jongdae.

“Anyway, I think he left already. If you really want to see him, you’re going to have to try again tomorrow.”

Jongdae pauses, a shy smile spreading across his face, “Haha, don’t worry about it, hyung. I think Jongin was just pulling my leg.”

_ Gahd, his laugh is so cute. _

Jongdae and Ryeowook chat with each other as they slowly walk off from Chanyeol’s station. When they’re finally out of earshot, Chanyeol comes out from behind the curtains and sighs.

“That was close, huh.”

Chanyeol nods in acknowledgement. Then realises that that didn’t come from him.

He makes a sharp turn and glares. Lo and behold, the devil who wears dance attires.

“Jongin, I am going to kill you.”

Jongin began to pat his shoulder and laughs again, so mocking of Chanyeol.

“I was trying to help, hyung.”

He shrugs off his hand and walks to get his things. Jongin, of course, follows him.

“I don’t need any help, Jongin. Just leave it be.”

Jongin sends him a questioning stare.

“I just want to get through this without trouble. And I can’t do that with him around. He’s a distraction. I can’t learn anything!”

Jongin ponders about his statement–appeased by a logic they stand by–and shrugs as Chanyeol comes down. They’re both packed and ready to leave.

“Well, okay, hyung. But I already told Jo—Benny so—”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, “Just say Jongdae. I already know his name.”

Jongin sends him a disgusted look, “Eww, hyung, what a stalker!”

Jongin runs away when Chanyeol starts to give chase, laughing as they both run all the way back to their dorms.

* * *

The next few days of rehearsals go about the same way. But longer and more tiring.

After a good night’s sleep on that disastrous first day, Chanyeol performed so much better.

He thought long and hard, and talked sense into himself, and now he’s proud to say that he’s not as distracted by Benny.

Well, it could also be attributed to the fact that rather than the cool, confident Benny, Chanyeol is now taken by the actor behind him—the kind and humble Jongdae.

Of course, drawing a clear line between them is still challenging. Especially during scenes where he’s with Nina.

Oh, those were just hell to go through.

They only kiss twice throughout the whole musical but there’s enough hugging and playing around with each other to make up for it.

Chanyeol’s heart was  _ hurted _ .

Jongin had laughed at him.

And Jongdae never did try to find him again. 

Chanyeol tells Jongin he’s relieved, but deep inside, they both know he’s a tad bit disappointed.

Chanyeol convinces himself it’s better this way.

And just like that the last 5 days of rehearsals pass by and they are ready for opening night.

The production is short, only running through a course of 3 days, 3 Matinees and 1 Evening on the final day.

The musical itself runs for about 2 hours with a short intermission between the two acts.

On Chanyeol’s first night, the nerves finally get to him when he notices the first few groups of the audiences coming in.

That escalated quickly when he realises it’s a full house and suddenly he understands the erratic attitude of Director Kim when he messed up.

And with the audience there, the whole musical suddenly feels longer than it should. But seeing as he has one of the simplest jobs out of the whole team, he doesn’t let out a word of complaint.

Especially not when he chanced upon Jongdae nervously fidgeting while practicing on his own.

Chanyeol cheered him on silently from his hiding place, then with a refreshed determination, walks to his station and promises Jongdae a perfect show.

* * *

Well, close to perfect. No matter how much they try, there’s bound to have some mishaps. What’s important is how they react to it.

And so Chanyeol gushes at the absolute professionalism surrounding each and everyone of the people behind the production. From the directing team to the actors and dancers, to the tech crew, they all react so calmly with ingenuity.

And so at the end of the second day, he’s brimming with excitement and gratitude of having to be a part of this event.

The matinee show had ended. It’s now a late evening, and he and Jongin are having a hearty, well-deserved meal at the nearest fast food restaurant when Jongin brings it up.

“So are you getting anything for Jongdae hyung?”

Chanyeol coughs as a fry gets stuck in his throat.

“What? Why would I do that?”

Jongin rolls his eyes out of exasperation, “Gosh hyung, please. Don’t let chivalry die.”

Chanyeol furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

“Get him flowers or something! As a congratulatory gift! Everyone does that. Especially for the main stars.”

Chanyeol flushes at the thought of handing Jongdae some subpar, inferior bouquet of flowers. Because why?  _ Jongdae is the prettiest flower out there. _

“Ew, you’re so cringy, hyung.”

“What? Did I say that out loud?”

Jongin scoffs at him, “No. You don’t have to. I can see it on your face.”

Chanyeol throws a fry at him and they end the conversation there.

But the thought sticks to Chanyeol and it’s what brings him in front of the male actors’ dressing room with a small bouquet of flowers in his hands.

It’s a simple bouquet of mainly soft pastels of pink and blue baby breaths with four cotton flowers spread out amongst them. It’s wrapped in brown kraft paper and tied with a deep blue ribbon. There’s a card attached to it, but Chanyeol had only addressed it to Jongdae anonymously.

He’s not even sure he wants to really give it to Jongdae himself.

_ I’ll just leave it on his dressing table. He won’t even know it’s me. I bet he received a ton of flowers anyway. Yeah, it’s not like I’m special or anything. _

Still, he somehow can’t bring himself to enter the dressing room and decide. There’s no one inside. He knows, he’s checked. He’d made sure to come at this timing. They’d just finish the Matinee show and everyone's on their dinner break before they get ready for the Evening show.

_ Man, just go in there, Chanyeol. _

He reaches for the doorknob resolutely when he suddenly hears a pair of voices.

_ Shit-shit-shit. _

Out of panic, he leaves the bouquet of flowers right in front of the door and runs to a turning corner of the hallway.

He makes it behind the wall just as the pair reaches.

“Oh, someone left flowers.”

“Hmm, I wonder why’d they just leave it here like that? Shouldn’t they give it personally?”

_ It’s Jongdae. _

“Mhhm, don’t ask me. Maybe it’s like a secret admirer or something.” The person, which Chanyeol recognises as the actor for Usnavi, shrugs.

“Is it for you Kibum hyung? Or maybe for–”

Kibum moves closer to take a look, “Well? Who is it for? Oh.”

He smiles teasingly at Jongdae, “Ooooh, looks like someone’s popular. Who is it from?”

“It’s not signed?” Jongdae flips the card around with furrowed brows.

“Oooooh, a secret admirer!”

A soft pink colours Jongdae’s cheeks and Chanyeol’s heart beats just a little bit faster.

Kibum continues to tease Jongdae right in front of their door as Jongdae asks him to stop with an exasperated grin.

Kibum then starts yapping on about how lame it is to leave anonymous trinkets and gifts, and Jongdae politely agrees.

But the tender smile on his face is enough for Chanyeol to feel his appreciation.

He walks off, satisfied.

* * *

The Evening show comes to an end with extra extravagance. The curtain call this time is much longer than their previous shows–the audience showing their recognition for the actors and actresses with more enthusiasm.

Chanyeol would pity the cleaners for having to clean up the amount of flowers that are being thrown, but he’s too busy clapping with fervor when Jongdae comes out.

“Kim Jongdae as Benny!”

Jongdae’s eyes shine bright as he gestures at everyone and towards backstage–as if to thank the audience and the people behind the stage. He’s saying that he wouldn’t have been able to stand on the stage so confidently if it weren’t for their support.

Chanyeol hasn’t met Jongdae personally. But he just understands that that was what he was trying to express. He’s just that type of person. Full of humility and kindness.

So he continues to clap for the brilliance of Kim Jongdae even as the next and the next, and the next actor gets called.

It’s with this jovial ambience that they close the night and mark the end of the production. Director Kim debriefs everyone, surprisingly very emotional and crying as he thanks each and everyone on the team.

Chanyeol thinks he’s drunk, but he listens on fondly.

Then they all separate into their own departments and this time Ryeowook gives the whole Lighting team another emotional gratitude speech. Chanyeol’s not going to admit he cried.

“Also we really wouldn’t have been able to come to this if it wasn’t for Chanyeol filling in the gap for us. It’s not rocket science, but if it hadn’t been for him volunteering on such a short notice, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

Okay, maybe he will.

The crying party finally comes to an end with a big group photo and hug, and then everyone is going off to collect their things and go off.

Chanyeol is walking back to his station to get his things one last time when he sees Jongin waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey, hyung! Let’s go eat out and celebrate.”

“Isn’t that too many cheat days?” He chuckles at Jongin’s could-care-less face then brisks up the stairs, “Let me just get my things and we’ll go.”

He gets up to the platform and was about to grab his already packed bag when he notices something that hadn’t been there when he left.

A small translucent, plastic drawstring with cute designs sits on top of his bag. Chanyeol picks it up and observes it. It’s filled with an assortment of candies and chocolates. He reads the card attached to it and his legs wobble.

“Hey, hyung, what’s the holdup?”

Chanyeol lifts his head up hesitantly, “J-Jongin…”

He shoves the goodie bag in front of Jongin’s face and stutters out excitedly, “Thank you for your hard work. Kim Jongdae.”

Jongin’s lips form an ‘o’ as he stares at Chanyeol’s disbelieved, thrilled face.

“He-he-he gave me a gift. Oh my gosh. He knows who I am. Did he find out I gave him the flowers?? Oh my gosh, Jongin, did you tell him? Oh, I can’t take this. This is so embarrassing!”

Chanyeol pretends to complain, but Jongin can see the blatant happiness plastered on his face.

“Alright, calm down, lover boy, haha. I didn’t say anything. Maybe he figured it out, I don’t know.” He laughs once again at Chanyeol’s look of awe.

“Now, let’s go! I’m sure you’re starving too! You can gush to me all about your Jongdae later!”

Jongin bounds down the stairs with Chanyeol in tow and he lets him yap on and on about the gift.

It starts to get on his nerves but then he takes another look at how Chanyeol is cradling the bag in both hands with care and the glee he is talking with, and decides to just keep it in.

Nevermind that he’s getting tired of hearing Jongdae this, Jongdae that.

Nevermind that people are giving the both of them dirty looks because of Chanyeol’s volume.

Nevermind that a similar drawstring bag is also packed in Jongin’s duffel bag, signed from Kim Jongdae himself too.

Nevermind that Chanyeol never stopped to think that maybe it was a token of gratitude that was given to everyone from Jongdae.

Jongin will just keep that all to himself for now.

He smiles encouragingly at Chanyeol, genuinely happy for him.

Nevermind that he knows that Chanyeol will surely give him an earful when he will eventually find out the truth.

_ Nevermind. _

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> The end TT Sorry if it’s unsatisfying. I’m unsatisfied too, but I can’t drag it on any longer. And I tried my best with the theatre shit, sorry to any actual theatre kids out there hahaha
> 
> Hoped you enjoy anyway! Thanks to the mods and congrats for the first round!!


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